Fire-escape



G. H. HUME.

' FIRE ESCAPE.

(No Model.)

Patented June 19,1883.

UNITED STATES PATENT OF ICE.

FlRE' -ESCA PE.

SPECIFICATION forming sea of Letters Patent Ne. 279,762, dated June 19,1883.

Application filed March 8, 189.). (No moduLi To all whom it 12mgconcern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. HUME, a citizen of the United States,residing at Osawatomie, in the county of Miami and State of 'Kansas,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire Escapes; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,

and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to that class of fire-escapesin which the body issuspended from a frame that slides upon a rope attached by one end tothe roof or an upper story window.

The invention consists of constructions and combinations, all as willhereinafter be described and claimed.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of a house, showingmy device applied thereto. Fig. 2 represents a side elevation of theframe, and also shows the strap and cord. Fig. 3 represents the frame;B, the rope, and C the strap.

The frame A ispreferably east in one piece, of a size about three timesas large as the de vice shown in the drawings, and consists of threeuprights, A A A joined together to top and bottom pieces, A and A. Theouter sides, a, of uprights A are made concave, so that when the deviceis not in use they will serve as a reel for coiling the rope, which,owing to the fact that the ends a are higher than the bottom of sides a,will not slip off under ordinary usage, but may he slipped over the endsby loosening the end coils and allowing the remaining coils to relax.Instead of con'caving the sides, the top and bottom pieces, A and A, maybe made to project beyond uprights A to serve the same purpose; or thesides may be concaved in addition to projecting the ends of the top andbottom over the uprights, as shown in Fig. 3. The upright A iscylindrical in form and placed in the middle of the frame. It preferably is left in the condition it comes from the mold, as the rope willthen have a rough surface to slide over; but it is obvious that it maybe treated differently. At each end, and formed integral with the topand bottom of the frame, are eyes A and A for the rope B, which passesthrough eye A and over the front side of the top to upright A, aroundwhich it is coiled two or more times, and then back of the bottomthrough eye A to the ground.

The ropeB may be of any kind of material; but a thin strong-rope whichwill not easily wear smooth is preferred. Both ends'a-re supplied.withany suitable hook, I), which should be strpng enough to bear theheaviest person, and be adapted to hook on the edge of a roof,windowcornice, windowsill, bed, or other convenient place which would bestrong enough to sustain the weight of a person descending on thedevice.

The strap 0 is suspended from the bottom A by means of loops 0 c, whichare on each side of the upright A, and sufficiently large to permit thestrap being transferred to the top by slipping them over the upright AThe operation of the device is as follows: The end of the rope havingthe frame nearest to it is attached to any suitable place, and the partywishing to escape seats himself in the strap 0 and grasps the rope belowthe frame. His weight will cause the frame to slip on the rope, and thespeed with which he descends can be regulated by the amount of strengthexercised by the hands upon that part of the rope below the frame. \Vhenthe person has descended, the frame is pulled up by the rope, the straptransferred to the opposite end of the frame, and the end of the ropenearest the frame attached to the obj ect', in place of the end whichheld the person last descending.

I am aware that frames consisting of three uprights and top and bottombars, all joined together, have been used in frictionalfireescapes butin all the devices I am aware of the supporting-belt was either attachedto the rings hung in the sides of the frame or looped around theuprights or friction-cylinder for the cable, leaving the whole weight tobe borne by said upright. My device obviates these defects by attachingthe supporting-belt to the lower barby means of loops placed between thethree uprights, so that the whole weight will be borne by them and thebar. The loops, as before stated, are made large enough to be passedover the corners of the frame, so that the position of the strap may bechanged when desired.

\Vhat I' claim as new is- 1. A fire-escape consisting of a frame havingan upright in the middle for a friction-cylinder, and eyes at top andbottom for the lowering-cable, and a strap having two loops attached tothe bar forming the bottom of the frame, one on each side of theupright, and of sufficient size to permit of their being passed aroundthe corners of the frame to reverse the position of the strap,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a fire escape, the combination of a fraine consisting of uprightsA having coneyes A and A, a rope, B, passing through the frame,substantially as shown, and a strap, 0, having loops 0 c, which encirclethe bar forming the bottom of the frame, and can be slipped over theside bars to the top, for the purpose set forth.

4. A frame, A, consisting of uprights A, having concave sides a, acylindrical upright A, top and bottom A and A, and eyes A and A,substantially as described.

5. A frame consisting of uprights A having cylindrical sides a, acylindrical upright, A, top and bottom A and A having projecting ends,and eyes A and A", substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE H. HUME.

\Vitnesses:

B. MILLER, JNo. 0. SHERIDAN.

